THERE are good nights in one's life, then there are nights that will live in the memory forever.

Saturday, October 18, was very much of the latter variety for me and I suspect many other people. My new book 2-Tone-2 was well and truly launched with the help of many good friends. Many of them attending, some of them performing (many who had flown and travelled a long way to attend), others helping me with the night.

Whatever the role, every one of them is 'special' and the whole experience was very humbling.

Following my speech (that included a tribute to the greatly missed Gus Chambers), my good mate Banger Walsh introduced the superb new project from former Selecter Charlie Anderson, who had kindly allowed me the first public performance of his new song Ghetto Child.

Charlie lives in Central America, so couldn't be there. Indeed the great man who wrote the Foreword to my book Lynval Golding, who lives in the US, had also filmed a special speech on DVD for the night, sadly there was a problem with the sound, but hey, it looked good.

Then it was book-signing time and I was more than happy with the impressive queue that was building up in front of our table. That queue in turn seemed quite impressed with my new book and the special goody bag they all received. Then it was show time. Special Brew were the musical glue that held the whole show together, and without the band and the two Simons, the night simply wouldn't have happened. This night was about 2-Tone, simple as that.

The Brew warmed up the audience, then it was the turn of soul legend Ray King to take the stage, accompanied by Horace Panter on bass, the ever-so talented Anthony Harty on drums and Neol Davies on guitar, Tim Healy from Dub Jam Force on keyboards and a superb brass section that included a super-cool Stuart Rennie from Orange Street and former Swinging Cat Paul Heskett, the man responsible for putting the atmosphere into the song Ghost Town all those years ago.

Next up we welcomed Roddy Byers on stage, and I'm proud to say that I had a third of the Specials playing at my book launch as Rodd, Horace Panter and Skabilly Rebel Jay stormed their way through a familiar set that included Concrete Jungle, Hey Little Rich Girl, Nite Klub (with a superb bass solo from Horace) and Rat Race.

So how do you follow a third of the Specials? With The Selecter lite of course, enter Neol Davies, Aitch and Gaps, to delight the audience once again. All the hits were here with Neol on lead vocal - pretty much a departure for the band, but hey, it worked a treat, and I couldn't help noticing that the skanking was becoming intense at this point.

Respect is due to Stevo from Cov's top reggae outfit Kifaru who, despite only having five days to learn the keyboard parts, played a blinder. Then it was my turn to join the band on stage for the traditional stage invasion song Enjoy Yourself, and that, my friends, is what we did.

It would be easy for me to get carried away by it all, but this is the kind of feedback I have received from guests about the bands, including "the 2-Tone crew were brilliant", "last night was a one-off and I'm still buzzing", "top night, Pete, hardly slept as I was still buzzing", "an amazing night", "an absolutely brilliant night out", "you have made my Christmas come early" and "an awesome night".

Thanks to everyone who helped make this night a huge unforgettable success; to all the above performers, to my wife Julie for all her hard work, Tom Long, Clive and Roger Lomas on sound Mick and Joe Kerrigan and Rich Woods for filming, John Coles for photography, Trev and Tom on security, hosts Bill and Sophie, 1450 for the fine food, DJ Ben, Coventry University and the staff at 54. Last but by no means least, thanks to our sponsors The Herbert, Tony Beard and Coventry Market for their huge support.

Pete will be in Borders Arena Park this Saturday from noon signing copies of his book, with live ska music from Pete Ryder (as seen on Sky TV), some lucky person will win an exclusive 2-Tone-2 goody bag on the day, so get your black and white on and come along for a great 2-Tone day!

We offered a signed copy of Pete's new book and an exclusive 2-Tone-2 goody bag for one lucky winner who could tell us on what day Coventry Market celebrates its 50th birthday.

The first correct entry stating November 4, drawn from the hat was A Brown, of Tamworth Road, Keresley, Coventry.

Neville dispels myths about Specials' tour

STILL on a 2-Tone theme, but an entirely unrelated subject, this is a personal statement from Neville Staple:

In reply to recent postings on the Specials website forum and other websites regarding a UK tour in December 2008, and for the avoidance of any doubt, I would like to confirm to everyone this tour is not happening.

I will not be appearing with my band at any of the venues on dates advertised.

Refunds for tickets already bought are the responsibility of the ticket agencies once the promoter confirms to them that the shows will not take place.